Dr Thomas Smith

Cyhoeddiad

• Date
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Ymchwil

My research is concerned with environmental knowledge, learning and the geographies of young people in both the global South and the West. My current research falls into two broad themes.

1. Abstract environmental knowledges and environmental management

Much of my ongoing research is concerned with local environmental change and how different forms of knowledge are (re)produced around these changes at different scales and in different geographical, social and historical contexts. I am particularly interested in how knowledges of the environment take on an ‘abstract’ quality, how understandings beyond functional use value are used to manage the environment, and how communities engage with the natural environment through various forms of abstraction and rationality. I am currently working on two projects relating to this theme:

A. Spiritual beliefs, witchcraft and the co-production of environmental knowledges and practices in the global South.

This project is currently exploring the role that spiritual beliefs, witchcraft and occult practices play in managing environmental resources, both historically and in the present, with field research being conducted in Tanzania. The complexity of these beliefs, and how they operate locally and nationally, is at present poorly understood in relation to environmental management, yet understanding them is vital in comprehending why people behave in certain (sometimes unexpected) ways. Whilst current thinking on local knowledges for development and local participation in development have done away with privileging knowledges and technologies from the global South, a focus on witchcraft and the occult, and its role in development practice, asks more fundamental questions about the kinds of rationalities, moralities and ethics being applied to development agendas and goals. In Africa, witchcraft and magical practices have not receded under the variegated forms of development which have and continue to operate across a range of national contexts. This study asks questions about how such practices and beliefs traverse the current participatory/local knowledges agenda, and if witchcraft and spiritual beliefs contribute to the co-production of development knowledges and imaginaries, both locally and nationally.

B. Conceptualising carbon in the global South

This research is concerned with how carbon is conceptualised by local communities in the global South. It explores how communities involved in participatory carbon sequestration projects come to understand and value ‘carbon’, as an element and as a commodity for which they are the new producers in a global market. Little is currently known about how these new producers establish situated meanings of carbon, particularly as this new resource has highly ‘abstract’ qualities when compared to typically more tangible natural resources, such as water and wood. This research, as with the previous project, seeks to understand how people come to develop and understand abstracted ideas about the environment and nature, and what effect these notions have on their daily lives.

2. Young people, place making and environmental knowledge

Building on previous research, I am continuing to explore the role of young people in place making and the production or reproduction of environmental knowledge, as well as their active participation as environmental actors. This research theme draws on my other work on abstracted environmental knowledges by considering, more broadly, how people come to learn about and ‘know’ the environment, and how this might impact on present and future generations in their management of the environment. I am currently working on two projects which contribute to this theme:

A. Freedom & roaming: imaginaries and practices of place-making in contemporary UK childhoods.

Two parallel trends are apparent in young people’s lives in the UK. Firstly, there are ongoing societal questions about the opportunities for young people to roam widely and independently, with many suggesting that these are considerably more restricted from what they once were. Secondly, however, some young people now have access to spaces and places beyond their most routine encounters which go beyond what was available to their historical counterparts, both through formalised, curricuralised outdoor experiences (both national and international), and through access to increasingly diverse virtual worlds. This project asks how these trends in experiences of freedom and roaming have changed since the 1900s, and  explores how current opportunities for both earthly and virtual roaming contribute to young people’s own practices of spatial freedom, roaming and place-making.

B. Environmental education and differentiated pedagogies in Tanzania: local and scientific knowledges and young people’s identities as environmental actors

Building on my earlier PhD research on local environmental knowledges, environmental education and young people’s environmental participation in Tanzania, this work has sought to examine how Tanzanian teachers engage with concepts of giftedness, talent, and differentiated learning in the context of science learning. The research explores how differentiated pedagogies are utilised in environmental and science learning in Tanzania, and the implications that ‘local’ and ‘Tanzanian’ understandings of different learning needs have for educational and environmental agendas.

Research Grants:

• 2016: Real Equality for All (Reall) (£4,735) Developing a new employment impact measurement for direct and indirect livelihood opportunities created from the Real Equality for All (Reall) Community-Led Infrastructure Funding Facility (CLIFF) Programme of affordable house building in Nairobi, Kenya. Collaborator: Real Equality for All (Reall – formerly Homeless International), Dr T. A. Smith (PI) and Professor Alison Brown (Co-I).
• 2016: ESRC Impact Accelerator Account Award (£3000) Building evaluative capacity amongst outdoor learning practitioners: Enhancing understanding of user experience through sharing place-based research methods. Collaborators: Brecon Beacons National Park Authority; Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Dr R. Dunkley (PI) and Dr T. A. Smith (Co-I)
• 2013: ESRC Festival of Social Sciences Grant for workshop: Volunteers and Young People in the Global South (£1,334)
• 2013-2014: Sheffield University Foreign Research and Travel Grant (£1,500)
• 2011: Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Conference Travel Grant (£100)
• 2010: School of Geographical and Earth Sciences Conference Travel Grant (£100)
• 2009-2010: Journal of Urban Studies Overseas Research Grant (£1500)
• 2009 and 2010: The University of Glasgow Roberts Fund Postgraduate Training (£800)
• 2008-2009: Royal Scottish Geographical Society Small Research Grant (£500)
• 2007-2011: Journal of Urban Studies Research Scholarship for MRes and PhD (£50,000)

Addysgu

I currently teach on the undergraduate BSc Human Geography and postgraduate MSc International Planning and Developmnt. This list includes modules I have taught on previously and those that I currently teach.

Administrative Roles:

• Deputy-Director: MSc International Planning and Development

Undergraduate Modules:

• Researching Contemporary Issues In Tanzania - Module Leader (3rd year)
• Geographies of the Developing World - Module Leader (3rd year)
• Political Geography: Space, Place and Power
• Public Geographies

Postgraduate Modules:

• Researching Spatial Planning and International Development

PhD Supervision:

• Regan Doyle (Cardiff University) 2015-, Title: Slum economies: Spatial drivers of economic activity hubs in informal settlements - A case of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Principle supervisor – Professor Alison Brown.
• Lucy Baker (Cardiff University) 2015-, Title: What are the social and individual economic impacts of importing used bicycles in sub-Saharan Africa? Principle Supervisor – Dr Justin Spinney.
• Rowenna Chartes (Cardiff University) 2016-, Title: Environmentalism in children: spatialised empathy, locality and activity. Principle Supervisor – Dr Kersty Hobson.

Bywgraffiad

Career

• Lecturer, School of Planning and Geography, Cardiff University, 2015-present
• Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth, Sheffield University, 2014.
• Teaching Associate, Department of Geography, Sheffield University, 2012-2014.
• Lecturer (temporary), School of Social Justice and Inclusion, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2012.

Education and Qualifications

• BA Geography, University of Southampton, 2004.
• PCGE Secondary Education, Geography, University of Southampton, 2005.
• MRes Human Geography, University of Glasgow, 2008.
• PhD Geography, University of Glasgow, 2012.

Aelodaethau proffesiynol

Fellow: The Royal Geographical Society, Affiliated with the Developing Areas Research Group, the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group and the Rural Geographies Research Group

Associate Member: Association of Heritage Interpretation

Ymrwymiadau siarad cyhoeddus

1. Smith, T.A. (2023) Apiau Awyr Agored: Technoleg, dehongli, llywio a rhyngweithio wrth grwydro yn y gwyllt, Cynhadledd Gêm ar gyfer Natur 2023, Rhwydwaith Gwybodaeth Ecosystemau
2. Smith, T.A. a Pitt, H. (2023) Trefnwyr Digwyddiadau: Tirweddau Anghyfarwydd: Lansio Llyfrau a Thrafod Amrywiaeth yn yr Awyr Agored, Caerdydd.  
3. Smith, T.A., and Khan, M. (2023) Trefnwyr Cynadleddau: Daearyddiaethau Dysgu Cyfunol: Digidol, Awyr Agored a Dulliau Cyfunol o Ddysgu - profiadau yng Nghymru, y DU ac yn Rhyngwladol, Caerdydd.  
4. Khan, M., Smith, T.A. (2023) Profiadau o ddatblygu fframweithiau dysgu cyfunol ar lefel gwladwriaeth Bangladesh, Daearyddiaeth Cynhadledd Dysgu Cyfunol,  Caerdydd. 
5. Khan, M., Smith, T.A., Harris, N. a Gattis, M. (2023) Chwarae plant yn ystod y pandemig mewn Bangladesh drefol, Cynhadledd Cymdeithas Chwarae Rhyngwladol, Glasgow. 
6. Khan, M., Smith, T.A., Harris, N. and McVicar (2022) Cyd-ddylunio cymuned wyrddach, tecach a chryfach ar gyfer lles plant, Cynhadledd Ryngwladol Dylunio Dinas Iach, Llundain.
7. Khan, M. a Smith, T.A. (2022), Cynullyddion Sesiwn: Mannau addysg a amharwyd arnynt yn y De byd-eang, RGS-IBG, Newcastle.
8. Khan, M., a Smith, T.A. (2022) Negodi plant o'u mannau bob dydd yn ystod y pandemig ym Mangladesh trefol, RGS-IBG, Newcastle.
9. Khan, M. a Smith, T.A. (2022) Rhyngblethiad gofodau ffisegol a digidol mewn addysg gynradd ym Mangladesh yn ystod y pandemig: Tuag at fframwaith dysgu cyfunol, RGS-IBG, Newcastle.
10. Khan, M., Smith, T.A., and Harris, N. (2022) Gorffennol, presennol a dyfodol chwarae plant yn Grangetown, RGS-IBG, Newcastle.
11. Smith, T.A. (2021) Anturiaethwyr Ecoleg Ifanc Caerlŷr: Canŵio, Ecoleg a Threftadaeth mewn Lleoliad anghyfarwydd, Explorathon 2021, Prifysgol Glasgow.
12. Smith, T.A. (2021) Anffurfioldeb a chadwyni cyflenwi adeiladu: Olrhain rhwydweithiau ffurfiol anffurfiol o ddeunyddiau, Arsyllfa Ymchwil Anffurfiol, Caerdydd.
13. Khan, M., Smith, T.A., Islam, M.K., Anand, K. and Hossain , T. (2021) Dulliau a arweinir gan argyfwng o addysgu a dysgu ym Mangladesh: Gweminar (Gweithdy 2), Prifysgol Caerdydd
14. Khan, M., Smith, T.A ., Islam, M.K., Anand, K. and Hossain, T. (2021) Tuag at fframwaith dysgu cyfunol ar gyfer Bangladesh ôl-bandemig, Cynhadledd Addysg mewn Argyfwng, Prifysgol Rhydychen.
15. Khan, M., Smith, T.A., Islam, M.K., Anand, K. and Hossain, T. (2021) Dulliau a arweinir gan argyfwng o addysgu a dysgu ym Mangladesh: Gweithdy 1, Prifysgol Caerdydd
16. Smith, T.A. (2020) Cyfryngu rhieni o ddefnydd plant o dechnolegau symudol mewn tirweddau rhostir, MOBSIN 2020, Caeredin.
17. O'Mahony, K. and Smith, T.A . (2020) Straeon felid a mwy na graddfeydd dynol: Gall gwneud synnwyr o bresenoldeb mawr mewn dyfodol gwyllt (er) y DU, Grŵp Ymchwil Daearyddiaeth Gymdeithasol a Diwylliannol, Prifysgol Caerdydd.
18. Smith, T. A. (2019) Mapiau n' Apps: Beth mae pobl sy'n ceisio defnyddio App o amgylch cefn gwlad yn dweud wrthym am sut mae pobl yn mynd i'r afael â rhostir, Cyfres Seminarau PLACE, Caerdydd.
19. Smith, T. A. a Chynullyddion Sesiwn Pitt, H. (2018): Cyflwyno Pobl Ifanc i 'Dirweddau anghyfarwydd', RGS-IBG, Caerdydd. 
20. Smith, T. A. a Pitt, H. (2018) 'Beefed by a huge swan': Sylwi a llywio wrth negodi tirweddau anghyfarwydd ieuenctid, RGS-IBG, Caerdydd. 
21. Smith, T. A. (2018) Technolegau mynediad a gweithgaredd yng nghanfyddiadau pobl ifanc o, ac ymrwymiadau ystyrlon gyda, tirwedd, RGS-IBG®, Caerdydd.
22. Smith, T. A. (2018) Ymgysylltu pobl ifanc â natur, technolegau a threftadaeth mewn Parciau Cenedlaethol: Canlyniadau ar gyfer lles a mynediad, Cynhadledd Flynyddol WISERD. 
23. Smith, T. A. and Pehkonen, S. (2018) Sut mae pobl yn siarad am nodweddion naturiol wrth gynllunio/gosod cyrsiau cyfeiriannu at ddibenion mordwyo eraill, MOBSIN 8, Caerdydd.
24. Smith, T. A., Jones, S. and Dunkely, R. A. (2018) Defnyddio dulliau gwerthuso symudol i fonitro defnydd ymwelwyr o Ap treftadaeth 'yn y gwyllt': Cerdded gyda Rhufeiniaid ym Mharc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog, Cynhadledd Rhwydwaith Hamdden Awyr Agored: 'Dulliau Newydd o Fonitro Cyfranogiad mewn Ymchwil Awyr Agored', Caerdydd.
25. Dunkley, R. A. and Smith, T. A . (2018) Cynrychioliadau o hunaniaethau o fewn cymwysiadau symudol sy'n ceisio dehongli treftadaeth anghyson, Cynhadledd Hanes y Gwyddorau Cymdeithasol Ewropeaidd, Prifysgol Queens, Belfast.
26. Smith, T. A., Dunkley, R., Reeves, S. and Laurier, E. (2017) Llywio medrus a'r technegau o fynd ar goll, HANS2 Gweithdy, Kuusamo, Y Ffindir.
27. Smith, T. A.  The Chief and the Snake: Spiritual-Ecological-Political Assembleemblages of Sacred Site Protection, RGS-IBG, Llundain.
28. Dunkley, R. A. a Smith, T. A. (2017) Graddfeydd crwydro plentyndod o fewn 'tirwedd addysgol' y Parc Cenedlaethol, RGS-IBG, Llundain.
29. Jones, S., Smith, T. A. a Dunkley, R. A. (2017) Mesur ein rhyngweithio ag apiau treftadaeth ddigidol 'yn y gwyllt', Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru, Cynhadledd y Gorffennol Digidol, Casnewydd  
30. Smith, T. A. (2017) Cyflwyniad Seminar Gwahoddiad: Apps Awyr Agored: Technoleg, dehongli, llywio a rhyngweithio wrth grwydro yn y gwyllt Technoleg Ddigidol ar gyfer Dehongli Natur, Canolfan Dehongli Natur, Prifysgol Gwyddorau Amaethyddol Sweden, Uppsala, Sweden
31. Smith, T. A., Dunkely, R. A. and Welch, S. (2016) Cyflwyniad Gweithdy Gwahoddedig: Prifysgol Caerdydd ac Awdurdod Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog – Ymchwil a Gwerthuso Cydweithredol, Cyd-weithdy Allgymorth ac Addysgwyr Awdurdodau Parciau Cenedlaethol y DU, Sir Benfro.
32. Smith, T. A., Dunkley, R. A., Reeves, S. and Laurier, E. (2016) Cyflwyniad Gweithdy Gwahoddedig: Cerdded gyda Rhufeiniaid ': Technoleg, natur, llywio a rhyngweithio mewn lleoliadau awyr agored, Gweithdy HANS, Oulu, Y Ffindir
33. Smith, T. A., Dunkley, R. A. and Jones, S. (2016) Mesur ein rhyngweithio â chymwysiadau dyfeisiau symudol 'yn y gwyllt': A allant newid ymddygiad ymwelwyr? Cynhadledd Flynyddol Cymdeithas Dehongli Treftadaeth, Belfast.
34. Dunkley, R. A. a Smith, T. A. (2016) Trefnydd Digwyddiadau - Gwerthuso'r Gweithdy Profiad Dysgu Awyr Agored, Gweithdy Effaith a Ariennir gan ESRC, Canolfan Addysg Parc Bute, Caerdydd (50 o bobl).
35. Smith, T. A. a Dunkley, R. A. (2016) Ffiniau newydd neu wrthdyniadau rhwystredig? Defnyddio dulliau technolegol arloesol i ddeall rôl Apiau a thechnolegau symudol mewn rhyngweithio plant a theuluoedd yn yr awyr agored, RGS-IBG®, Llundain.
36. Smith, T. A., Dunkley, R. A., and Jones, S. (2016) Cyflwyniad Gweithdy Gwahoddedig: Rhyngweithio â chymwysiadau dyfeisiau symudol 'yn y gwyllt': A allant newid ymddygiad? Cymdeithas Dehongli Treftadaeth a Gweithdy Awdurdod Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog: Dehongli mewn Tirweddau Anghysbell, Awdurdod Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog, Aberhonddu a Threcastell.
37. Smith, T. A. (2016) Panel Trafod Gwahoddedig: Project Wild Thing, Siarad ar: Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg Amgylcheddol, SciSCREEN Caerdydd, Prifysgol Caerdydd.
38. Smith, T. A. a Dunkley, R. A. (2016) crwydro a natur, creadigrwydd a thechnoleg: arbrofi gyda methodolegau ansoddol cyferbyniol ac effaith ym Mharc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog, Cynhadledd Dulliau Ymchwil Arloesol gyda Phlant a Phobl Ifanc, Ysgol y Gwyddorau Cymdeithasol, Prifysgol Caerdydd.
39. Smith, T. A. a Dunkley, R. A. (2016) crwydro a natur, creadigrwydd a thechnoleg: arbrofi gyda methodolegau ansoddol cyferbyniol ac effaith ym Mharc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog, Symposiwm Ymchwil Ansoddol De-orllewin Lloegr, Prifysgol Caerfaddon.
40. Sutherland, M., Stack, N., Smith, T. A., Tungaraza, F. (2016) Seminar Gwahoddedig: Llywio'r tir newidiol rhwng polisi ac ymarfer ar gyfer dysgwyr dawnus yn Tanzania, Canolfan Datblygu Rhyngwladol Glasgow, Prifysgol Glasgow.
41. Dunkley, R. A. a Smith, T. A. (2015) Gartref yn y Parc: archwilio rhyngweithiadau preswylwyr pobl ifanc â natur ym Mharc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog, Yr Awyr Agored Fawr? Cynhadledd Plant, Pobl Ifanc a Theuluoedd mewn Mannau Naturiol a Gwledig, Prifysgol Northampton.
42. Smith, T. A. (2015) Cyflwyniad Gwahoddedig: Dewiniaeth, Credoau Ysbrydol a Rheolaeth Amgylcheddol yn Tanzania, Cyfres Seminarau'r Sefydliad Ymchwil Mannau Cynaliadwy (PLACE), Prifysgol Caerdydd.
43. Sutherland, M., Stack, N., Smith, T. A., Tungaraza, F. (2014) Pedagogy Cyd-destunol ar gyfer Gallu Uchel, 14eg Cynhadledd Ryngwladol Cyngor Ewropeaidd ar gyfer Gallu Uchel, Ljubljana, Slofenia.
44. Smith, T. A. (2014) Nid y myfyriwr yw'r pysgotwr: Dadleoli hunaniaethau pobl ifanc yn Tanzania, Canolfan Astudio Plentyndod ac Ieuenctid (CSCY) Cynhadledd Ryngwladol. Sheffield.
45. Smith, T. A. (2014) – Cynullydd Sesiwn: Dewiniaeth, credoau ysbrydol, a chyd-gynhyrchu gwybodaeth ac arferion datblygu yn y Byd Mwyafrifol, RGS-IBG: Sesiwn noddedig Grŵp Ymchwil Ardaloedd Datblygu (DARG), Llundain
46. Twyman, C., Smith T. A. and Arnall, A. (2014) Beth yw Carbon? Cysyniadu galluoedd carbon a charbon yng nghyd-destun prosiectau atafaelu yn y gymuned yn y De byd-eang, Economi Werdd yn y De: Negodi Llywodraethu Amgylcheddol, Ffyniant a Datblygu, Prifysgol Dodma, Tanzania.
47. Smith, T. A. (2013) Cyflwyniad Gwahoddedig: Gwybodaeth leol a dewiniaeth yn Tanzania trefol a gwledig, Adran Daearyddiaeth Sheffield Cyfres Seminar Daearyddiaeth Ddynol, Prifysgol Sheffield
48. Smith, T. A. (2013) Cyflwyniad Gwahoddiad: Bywydau dominyddol / ymylol Tanzaniaid ifanc: Mannau o wybod ar groesffordd daearyddiaeth plant a daearyddiaeth datblygu, Sheffield Institute for International Development Lecture Series, Prifysgol Sheffield
49. Smith, T. A. (2012) Plentyndod 'Eraill': negodi tir moesegol ar draws ffiniau, RGS-IBG, Llundain.
50. Smith, T. A. (2011) Tarddiad fy ymchwil: meddyliau ar wreiddioldeb, Cynhadledd Ôl-raddedig RGS-IBG, Prifysgol Durham
51. Smith, T. A. (2011) Nid y myfyriwr yw'r pysgotwr, Grŵp Ymchwil Daearyddiaeth Plant a Theuluoedd RGS (GCYFRG) 'Cynhadledd Hunaniaethau Pobl Ifanc', Prifysgol Plymouth
52. Smith, T. A. Mannau gwybodaeth, cyfranogiad a grymuso: pobl ifanc fel actorion amgylcheddol yn Tanzania, RGS-IBG, Llundain.

Meysydd goruchwyliaeth

Mae gen i ddiddordeb mewn goruchwylio myfyrwyr PhD yn unrhyw un o'r meysydd canlynol:

• Daearyddiaeth plant, pobl ifanc a mannau addysgol
• Addysg amgylcheddol, awyr agored a chynaliadwyedd
• Cadwraeth amgylcheddol a chynaliadwyedd, gan gynnwys safleoedd naturiol sanctaidd a dewiniaeth
• Gwaith, cyflogaeth, bywoliaeth a thai gyda ffocws rhyngwladol
• Astudiaethau o ryngweithio cymdeithasol, yn enwedig mewn lleoliadau awyr agored
• Dehongli treftadaeth
• Sgiliau llywio ac awyr agored

Goruchwyliaeth gyfredol

Rosie Havers

Myfyriwr ymchwil